Historical Figure
Saint Francis of Assisi
1181–1226
Italian Catholic saint (c. 1181–1226)
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Biography
Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italian mystic, poet and Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Christian life of poverty, he became a beggar and an itinerant preacher.
Timeline
The story of Saint Francis of Assisi, told in moments.
Born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone in Assisi, Umbria. His father Pietro is a wealthy silk merchant who trades with France. He nicknames his son Francesco, "the Frenchman." Francis grows up privileged, restless, and popular. He spends lavishly on parties and fine clothes.
Captured during a border war between Assisi and Perugia and held prisoner for a year. He falls seriously ill in captivity. When he returns home, something has shifted. He spends months in solitude. The parties stop.
His father drags him before the bishop of Assisi to reclaim money Francis has been giving to churches. In the town square, Francis strips naked, returns his clothes to his father, and declares God is his only father now. The bishop covers him with a cloak. Francis walks into the woods barefoot in winter.
Walks to Rome with eleven companions to seek approval from Pope Innocent III for a new religious order based on radical poverty. The Pope is skeptical. According to legend, he dreams that night of a poor man in rags holding up the collapsing Lateran Basilica. He approves the order. The Franciscans begin.
Crosses enemy lines during the Fifth Crusade and walks into the camp of Sultan al-Kamil of Egypt. He wants to convert the sultan. He fails. But the sultan is impressed and lets him preach, then sends him home with gifts and safe passage. Two armies are at war and a barefoot monk walks between them talking about peace.
Creates the first live nativity scene in a cave near Greccio. Real animals, real straw, real fire. He wants people to see and smell and feel the poverty of Bethlehem, not just hear about it in Latin they don't understand. The tradition spreads across Europe.
Composes the Canticle of the Sun while nearly blind and in constant pain. It praises Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Sister Water, Brother Fire. Written in Umbrian Italian, not Latin. One of the first great poems in the Italian language.
Dies at the Portiuncula, a small chapel near Assisi. He is 44 or 45. Nearly blind, in constant pain, his body wrecked by years of fasting and exposure. He asks to be laid naked on the bare ground to die as he lived. He dictates a final blessing and sings Psalm 142. His followers report larks circling the roof at the moment of death.
Show full timeline (11 entries)
While praying on Mount La Verna, Francis receives the stigmata. Wounds appear on his hands, feet, and side, matching the crucifixion wounds of Christ. He is the first recorded person to bear them. He tries to hide them for the remaining two years of his life.
Canonized by Pope Gregory IX, less than two years after his death. One of the fastest canonizations in Church history. The Basilica of San Francesco d'Assisi is begun immediately. A church built to honor a man who wanted no churches.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina is elected pope and takes the name Francis. First pope to choose this name. First Jesuit pope. He says he chose the name because of Francis of Assisi's dedication to the poor. The connection is immediate and deliberate.
In Their Own Words (6)
All those men and women … who in their body serve the world through the desires of the flesh, the concerns of the world and the cares of this life: They are held captive by the devil, whose children they are, and whose works they do.
“Earlier Exhortation to the Brothers and Sisters of Penance,” Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, Volume 1, p. 43.
Such was the will of the Father that his Son, blessed and glorious, whom he gave to us, and who was born for us, should by his own blood, sacrifice, and oblation, offer himself on the altar of the cross, not for himself, by whom "all things were made," but for our sins, leaving us an example that we should follow his steps.
Letter to all the Faithful
Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance. Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor vexation. Where there is poverty and joy, there is neither greed nor avarice. Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt.
The Counsels of the Holy Father St. Francis, Admonition 27.
We must not be wise and prudent according to the flesh, but, instead, we must be simple, humble and pure.
“Later Admonition and Exhortation to the Brothers and Sisters of Penance,” Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, Volume 1, p. 48.
Hail, queen wisdom! May the Lord save thee with thy sister holy pure simplicity! O Lady, holy poverty, may the Lord save thee with thy sister holy humility! O Lady, holy charity, may the Lord save thee with thy sister holy obedience! O all ye most holy virtues, may the Lord, from whom you proceed and come, save you! There is absolutely no man in the whole world who can possess one among you unless he first die. He who possesses one and does not offend the others, possesses all; and he who offends one, possesses none and offends all; and every one [of them] confounds vices and sins. Holy wisdom confounds Satan and all his wickednesses. Pure holy simplicity confounds all the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of the flesh. Holy poverty confounds cupidity and avarice and the cares of this world. Holy humility confounds pride and all the men of this world and all things that are in the world. Holy charity confounds all diabolical and fleshly temptations and all fleshly fears. Holy obedience confounds all bodily and fleshly desires and keeps the body mortified to the obedience of the spirit and to the obedience of one's brother and makes a man subject to all the men of this world and not to men alone, but also to all beasts and wild animals, so that they may do with him whatsoever they will, in so far as it may be granted to them from above by the Lord.
Artifacts (15)
Saint Francis of Assisi
Antoniazzo Romano (Antonio di Benedetto Aquilio)
Mosaic Panel with Saint Francis of Assisi
Photography Department, High School of Visual Arts, Budapest
The Crucifixion, (reverse) Saint Francis of Assisi; The Resurrection, (reverse) An Abbot Saint, Possibly Saint Benedict
Northern French Painter
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